Mermaid Dancing Warrior Witch

[RaisingHeartSetUp]

Mermaid Dancing Sky Warrior Witch
Chapter One: Making A Wish And A Contract​

Oktavia

I never expected to be reborn as a human, in America, to a German-American and Japanese family, and be named the same thing I was called when I was a witch.

Just like when I existed as the Mermaid Witch, my name was Oktavia von Seckendorff. Talk about a coincidence. I suspected that a certain divine being who was once a friend of my human form might have had a hand in in it (because really, what are the odds?) but I didn’t have any proof. And when my parents died when I was very young (I think I was two but I don’t remember because it was so long ago) I was sent to an orphanage and didn’t have any time to search for proof that would give me the answers I wanted.

When I was five, I was shipped off to a dance school because of a lack of space at the orphanage. I had shown a vague interest in dancing, so the people in charge decided that I would go to a dance school. Unfortunately, I was never very good at dancing (I was the Mermaid Witch, not the Stage Creating Witch or the Nutcracker Witch), and I was perpetually in the lowest class: the dreaded Class Five, the dregs of High Hopes.

Because of this, I attracted the attention of the school’s headmistress, Dame Skyla. Unlike a lot of other lazy students who just didn’t want to try hard, I actually did put my full effort into trying to dance well. Dame Skyla found me practicing in an unused room, practically turning the air as blue as my labyrinth was because I kept falling on my face or my butt, or some other part of me not meant to be fallen on. Namely things that hurt when I fell on them. Is it any wonder I kept cursing when I kept falling on things that hurt?

Rather than be angry or disapproving of my language, she was actually rather amused. Apparently she watched me for a while before she approached me and offered to help.

Naturally, I was pretty freaking surprised when she actually offered to help instead of just giving me some useless advice like my teachers always did and going on her way. And instead of just spouting useless advice from the sidelines, she actually showed me what I was doing wrong and showed me how to do it right. I’d probably still always be in Class Five, but at least now I could be near the top of Class Five. As mentioned, unlike a lot of lazy, unwilling students hoping to get an easy ride to fame and fortune who didn’t want to do any work, I actually did try to dance well. No matter how many times I fell on something painful that was not meant to be fallen on. Despite what my human form Sayaka thought, nothing in life that was worth doing was actually easy. Case in point, dancing even though I was the Mermaid Witch.

I never was able to find out whether or not a certain goddess who was friends with my human form had anything to do with my rebirth as a human.
Or at least, not until eight and a half or so years after I first came to High Hopes, when the school was having a big showcase of our five best students: the Prima Ballerina Jade, the Hero of Hip Hop Slam, the Queen of Country Rock, Angelica, the Modern Dance Aficionado, Camille, and Breeze, the Native American Traditionalist. The five of them were our best dancers, and well on their way to becoming famous, and Skyla-sensei wanted everyone to know it.

To my sheer astonishment, Skyla-sensei let me sit beside her at the performance. I wished I could be up on stage with them, but I knew that was never going to happen.

At some point during the performance, something seemed to spook my favorite teacher and she left. I didn’t follow her; I had enough detentions on my record, thank you, and I wasn’t about to make it another from Skyla-sensei.

But, when the Golden Quintet (my name for Jade, Camille, Breeze, Angelica, and Slam) decided to go look for her, I decided I’d follow, if only because I didn’t want any Wraiths or Witches to find them. Granted, I hadn’t seen any of either yet, but it was better to be safe than sorry. Besides, I had a feeling this might lead me to the answers I had been longing for all my life.

And boy was I ever right.

As the Quintet called out for Skyla-sensei, I looked around nervously, hoping that nothing was going to pop out that would require me to use my witch powers, which, as a human, I didn’t have the best control over. I was rather surprised when Camille of all members of the Quartet dropped back to talk to me.

“Hey, you’re Oktavia, right?” She questioned, smiling at me. “From year nine’s Class Five.”

I grimaced. “Yeah. No need to introduce you, of course. You’re Camille, one of the Academy’s five best dancers, the so-called Modern Dance Aficionado.”

She nodded. “That’s right. Weren’t you sitting beside Dame Skyla at the performance?”

“I was.” I admitted “She’s one of few people who don’t see me as a lazy good for nothing who’s only looking for an easy ride to fame and fortune. I really do try— Madoka only knows how many times I’ve fallen on things that are most assuredly not meant to be fallen on when I’m practicing— but I never seem to get much better.”

“Maybe I could help you.” The Modern Dance Aficionado suggested. “I know the teachers of Class Five tend to not really care about their students. Maybe if I helped you out, then you could get good enough to move to Class Four.”

I snorted. “Good luck with that, Camille-san. Skyla-sensei has been helping me for two years now, and I still haven’t gotten much better.”

“Wait, Dame Skyla has actually been helping you?” She gasped. “She rarely even helps us!”

“Because you don’t need it.” I replied, and then snorted. “I practically turn the air blue every single time I fall and hurt something. Apparently, according to the school nurse, I broke the record for number of visits related to dancing injuries in my third year.” I added dryly.

The dark skinned girl’s eyebrows shot up. “Just how often do you fall when you’re practicing?”

“Only every time.” I shrugged. “I’m used to it. By now, I don’t even need to go to the nurse’s office to know if something is sprained or torn or broken. And I can treat sprains on my own.” Our conversation was halted as we came to the entrance of a strange building, one that I sensed magic from. Most of it was unfamiliar, but some of it I felt like I knew somehow. But that shouldn’t be possible.

Putting that it aside, I followed Whirl and Twirl inside, and was surprised to find that the building was basically just one large room with literally hundreds of music boxes all playing the exact same tune. I just knew that magic was involved somehow.

“What in the world?” Camille breathed.

And then I saw my favorite teacher, and hastened to bow. “Skyla-sensei!” I said hastily. “I’ll leave, if you want me to. I just followed these guys to make sure they didn’t run into anything magical.” Yes, Skyla-sensei knew that I used to be the Mermaid Witch. I kind of had to come clean when I’d accidentally used the title and she forced me to tell her what it meant.

Skyla-sensei shook her head. “Oktavia, I’ve told you, you really needn’t be so formal with me. My students shouldn’t feel the need to bow to me, even if I am your teacher. That may be the custom in Japan, but it isn’t here. Or where I come from.”

“Sorry, sensei.” I apologized. “It’s a habit.”

“Indeed.” She said dryly. “As for whether or not I would like you to leave, no. In fact, I would very much like it if you would stay. There is something I would like to ask of all of you.”

I straightened; this was important. “I will listen with my heart.” I intoned, speaking the words that meant I would take her seriously, and really listen to what she had to say.

“And I will answer with my heart.” Skyla-sensei finished, and then began her story. Apparently, she was a queen of a realm known as the Wingdom, where winged dancers flew and danced. It had been peaceful, up until recently. Several years ago, her brother in law Skyclone had attempted to steal the artifact that served as their Crown Jewel— the Sky Swirl Stone.

It granted power over flight, and was what marked the ruler of the realm. Despite Skyclone being the older brother, it had passed to Skyla-sensei’s husband Skylar instead. While Skyclone was never exactly all that great of a person to begin with, being denied the throne he felt was his had only made it worse, and he tried to take the stone by force, only for Skylar to trap them both in what Skyla-sensei called a death spin. Skyclone was trapped for several years, but now he was awake again and the Wingdom had no means to combat him. Being a largely peaceful society, they didn’t have any sort of standing military force. And that was where we came in.

She wanted the Quintet to take up the mantel of the Sky Dancers, five masters of varying dance styles who used dance as their power. But then where did that leave me? What did my favorite teacher have in mind for me, the Mermaid Witch? She that knew I couldn’t dance well; I could hardly dance at all. What was she planning? She had to be planning something.

Of that much I was absolutely sure of. I knew Skyla-sensei.

“Okay, so what about me then, sensei?” I wanted to know. “You said you wanted all of our help, but I’m the Mermaid Witch. Not the Stage Creating Witch or the Nutcracker Witch.”

My favorite teacher smiled at me. “Come with me.” She instructed, and led me down to the very center of the music box room, at the bottom. “There’s someone I believe you might know and might want answers from. My Lady, I leave this in your hands.”

I frowned, wondering who Skyla-sensei, a Queen, was calling My Lady, but my question was soon answered as a figure dressed in white with long flowing pink hair and golden eyes appeared. “Law of Cycles.” I breathed, hastening to bow as deeply as I could.

I actually felt her hand on me. “It’s okay, Oktavia-chan. You don’t have to bow to me. Not someone who used to be part of my friend.”

I straightened up, and looked at the goddess. “Why did you have Skyla-sensei bring me here? And how did you have me reborn as a human? Why do I still have my original name? What does this have to do with the Wingdom?”

The Goddess and the sky queen exchanged an amused glance. “Someone is full of questions.” They chorused, and I blushed; I couldn’t help that I had a million questions I wanted answered.

“Yeah, yeah,” I muttered. “So are you gonna answer me?”

“Of course.” Madoka-dono smiled. “I had Skyla bring you here so that I could make you an offer. As for why you were reborn as a human and why you have your original name, I wanted to give the witches a second chance to be more than mindless monsters. So I had you all reborn as humans with your original names. What it has to do with Skyla’s kingdom is the offer I wanted to make you. Oktavia, do you have a wish?”

“A wish?” I echoed. “Wait a minute . . .”

“If there’s a wish you want to make, I can make you a Magical Girl. Your Soul Gem won’t literally be your soul, but it will be the source of your magic.”

I thought for a long while, and then finally, replied “I wish that I could find someone to love me for who and what I am.”

“Good wish.” The Goddess praised. Her hands reached into my chest, and pulled out a small sphere of magic which then turned into a glowing blue light floating just far enough above me that I had to stretch to reach it. “Now, accept it. This is your destiny.” I reached up and grabbed the glowing light, and it turned into a Soul Gem. “Remember this— should you ever turn your back on humanity and return to the mindless monster you used to be of your own free will, your Soul Gem will shatter, and shortly after, you will die. Other than that, there are no limits to what you can do. Defend your kingdom well and I’ll see you again someday.”

The teenaged goddess vanished, and my Soul Gem turned into a ring on my finger. Since it wasn’t literally my soul, I would probably put it on a chain and wear it around my neck and under my shirt so that no one asked questions. And I could probably also make the chain unnoticeable (which was way different than invisible because it acted on the observer).

“Well, Oktavia, now that you’ve made your wish, shall we rejoin the others?” Skyla-sensei suggested. “And then we shall make our way to the Wingdom.”

“Of course, Sensei. So, um, about my Soul Gem, how do I activate it?”

“I suspect you merely say the first thing that comes to your mind, and after that, whatever it is you have said will be how you activate it.”

I grinned. “Great. I have the perfect thing in mind.”

As we headed back up to the top of the music box room where the Quintet who were now the Sky Dancers were waiting, Skyla-sensei briefly turned to regard me with raised eyebrows. “Oh?”

“You’ll see.” I replied. “You’ll see.”

When we reached the Dancers again, Angelica was, unsurprisingly, the first person to notice my new ring, and her first question was “Where did that come from?”

I shrugged. “I made a wish, and a goddess granted it. And this is the crystallization of that wish.”

Any further conversation was halted when Skyla-sensei gave each of them a golden feather, asking them all to repeat “If it is to be, it’s up to me.”

“If it is to be, it’s up to me.” They repeated in somewhat disjointed unison.

And then Skyla-sensei looked expectantly at me.

I let my Soul Gem turn into gem form and held it out in front of me.

“I’m small as an ant, big as a whale, I’ll approach like a breeze, but come as a gale. By some I get hit, but all have shown fear, I’ll dance to the music, though I can’t hear. Of names I have many, of names I have one, I’m slow as a snail but from me you can’t run. Mermaid Warrior Witch— set up!”

 

[RaisingHeartSetUp]

Mermaid Dancing Sky Warrior Witch
Chapter Two: Pact Between Warrior And Dancers
​

Oktavia

A beam of midnight blue light shot into the sky, and my clothes disappeared, turned to petals of water, and were replaced with a black and white bare shouldered bare backed dress with detached puffy white sleeves, a pair of armored metal gloves, and a pair of knee high, low heeled armored metal boots. Completing the look was shining silvery-white armor over the dress, and a one handed broadsword at my side. Finally, my midnight blue hair had been pulled into a braid.

Taking Camille’s offered hand, I flew with them through the portal and into the realm where the Wingdom’s flying dancers dwelled. As soon as we were through, Skyla-sensei took the lead.

Coming to a landing area, we found that it had been trashed.

Whirl and Twirl growled at the small creatures that seemed to have done the trashing.

“Back, you mangy butts, back.” The red one, which seemed to be the leader, snapped at the dogs, who momentarily flinched back.

“What are these things?” Camille demanded.

“They’re Skyclone’s imps.” Was my favorite teacher’s curt reply.

Before either of the imps could say anything, I unsheathed my sword, the name of which I immediately knew was Caliburn, and swung it at them. They flinched back, but I didn’t let up on them. Slam and Breeze got in on the act by lashing out at them with sloppily thrown punches. We managed to drive the things off, but Sensei still looked worried.

“Sensei, is something wrong? No, wait never mind. I probably know. We just beat the little fish and now they’re going crying to the big fish, right?” I guessed, returning Caliburn to its sheath at my hip, and the Windom’s queen nodded.

“Exactly.” She agreed with a tired sigh. “Which means I must teach you all I can in what little time we have before Skyclone arrives.” She went on to explain that the Sky Dancers each had a special power that was brought to life by a dance move. Slam could move large objects, and Camille could create anything she wanted out of clouds. Angelica could stop time for a chosen object or person. Breeze could summon wind and rain. And as for me? I couldn’t dance well, but my power had to do with song. I could use the long forgotten art known as spellsinging, as well as— when I used my Soul Gem— being a master of the blade.

Our practice was interrupted when a pair of Skyla-sensei’s subjects arrived with the news that Skyclone was on his way with an army. This would be my first test.
Since I couldn’t fly, Camille quickly created a large moving platform out of clouds for me.

Skyclone wasn’t impressed with us at all— especially me because he could tell that, with me having a sword, an armored dress, and no wings, I couldn’t dance very well. To the Wingdom, even Skyclone, dance seemed to be everything.

But I wasn’t about to let that stop me. I unsheathed Caliburn again, and settled into a defensive stance with the blade diagonal across my chest.

When we all split up, I followed Slam. He used his power to lift the Horrorcane into the sky, but the Imps latched onto him, upsetting his concentration. He called out to Jade that he could really use a hand, but Jade was frozen because she didn’t know what her power was. So I stepped in, swinging Caliburn at them. But then the stupid things grabbed onto me. Ugh.

“Jade, so help me if you don’t get your sorry butt in gear I won’t tell you my story!” I shouted at the frozen Prima Ballerina as the Imps started yanking on various limbs in an effort to take me out of the battle, one way or another.

“But—” She protested.

“Jade, I could use a hand here!” I snapped. “Do you want to hear my story? Because I’ll tell you if you can get your sorry butt in gear and help me!”

For a moment, she seemed to weigh her fear and disbelief against a desire to hear my story. Finally, she set aside her disbelief and quickly pulled a dance move that turned her invisible. Moments later, the Imps were shaken off of me, and the Prima Ballerina reappeared.

“Alright, I helped, so you have to tell.” She announced.

I snorted. “I wouldn’t have threatened not to tell if I didn’t actually intend to tell you guys my full story. Skyla-sensei already knows it, but, well,” I shrugged helplessly, wondering exactly what I could say to make her understand.

“She’s Dame Skyla.” Jade finished for me, and I was thankful that she knew what I meant. “Let me guess, you accidentally let something slip and she forced the whole story out of you.”

I blushed. “Yeah, that’s exactly what happened.”

Jade chuckled. “Now why am I not surprised?” She asked rhetorically. “Come on. Let’s get Slam and regroup in the Wingdom so we can make a Plan B.”

“Might not hurt to have a Plan C and a Plan D as well. Possibly even E or F.” I added.

“Probably not.” The ballerina named for a gemstone agreed. We made our way back to Slam, and he used his power to pull me along behind them as they made their way back to our school’s headmistress. Once we regrouped with everyone, Jade announced that she had a plan. “It looks like our only hope is going to be to work as a team and get those things to smash into eachother. Oktavia, I know you can’t fly, but maybe, if you could somehow use your singing power to do something, like hold it in place, we might have a chance.”

Mentally, I ran through the songs that I knew, but I came up empty for songs that could hold the things in place. “I don’t know about holding it in place, but I might be able to sing to power you guys up. And I think I know just the song to do it.”

“Then sing it for us, girl.” Angelica told me.

I smiled and closed my eyes, taking a deep breath in and letting it out. “I was living in a fantasy; waiting for somebody to rescue me. But I found a way to light the dark, it was always there inside my heart. No more fairy tale pretending, I’ll make my own happy ending. If I wasn’t meant to fly, I wouldn’t have these wings. I wouldn’t reach up to the sky, every night, in my dreams. And there’s a voice inside of me, saying I can do anything, ’cause if I wasn’t meant to fly, I wouldn’t have these wings.”

Surprisingly, it was Jade who picked up the song from here. “There’s a star that’s shining down on me, reflecting everything that I can be. Every journey starts inside my heart, and there’s no mountain that’s too far, ’cause if I set my mind to it, whatever it is, I can do it.”

And the Angelica took up the chorus. “If I wasn’t meant to fly, I wouldn’t have these wings. I wouldn’t reach up to the sky, every night, in my dreams. And there’s a voice inside of me, saying I can do anything, oh yeah, ’cause if I wasn’t meant to fly, I wouldn’t have these wings to take me farther up, than I thought I’d go.”

And Breeze cut in, taking up the song from there. “Higher than the heavens, ’cause deep inside I know . . . If I wasn’t meant to fly, I wouldn’t have these wings. I wouldn’t reach up to the sky, every night, in my dreams,”

“And there’s a voice inside of me, saying I can do anything, oh yeah,” Slam continued briefly.

“’Cause if I wasn’t meant to fly, I wouldn’t have these . . . wings.” The six of us finished together, wondering how in the world we’d been able to do that.

Skyla-sensei looked thoughtful. “This is very interesting.” She mused. “It seems that if you begin a song, the others will know it as well and can join you in singing.”

“Weird.” The six of us chorused, and then looked at eachother; what the hell?

But we quickly returned to the task at hand. I guarded Camille while she created her cloud sculpture, and Breeze and Slam harried the Horrorcanes into following them. It was a good thing they were too stupid to listen to Skyclone’s orders to forget the Dancers and attack the palace. Working in tandem, and switching off with Angelica and Jade, they got the things to bump into eachother and destroy themselves. The resulting explosion of wind blew Skyclone all the way back to his lair, a long ways away.

“Well done.” Skyla-sensei praised. “Well done indeed, my Sky Dancers. And of course to you, Oktavia, the first of my Sky Warriors. You are definitely a credit to your goddess.”

I blushed. “Thank you, Skyla-sensei. Um, do I need to call you Your Majesty while we’re here?”

Smiling, she shook her head. “No, Oktavia. In fact, I would be thrilled for you to continue to call me sensei. Now, I believe you mentioned you would tell your story, did you not?”

I nodded. “That’s right. Okay, well, to start, I guess I should ask you if any of you are familiar with the concept of entropy. Trust me, you’ll see why it matters in a minute.”

To no one’s surprise, Jade was. “My dad mentioned it once. Something about how every time a living thing is born it uses a little bit of energy and creates entropy, and if there’s too much entropy the universe will die. Or something like that.”

“That’s about the gist of it.” I agreed. “It’s important because where I originally came from, someone decided to do something about the entropy. Unfortunately, that someone happened to be an emotionless race known as the Incubators. They’re white, cat-like creatures with long floppy ears and a red circle on their backs. And they took it upon themselves to find a way to erase the entropy. The way they decided do this is by finding a race of beings who have a long lifespan and use a lot of emotional energy, which they would use to get rid of a little bit. So what they do is they seek out teenaged girls, who are usually a bit more emotional than boys, with a certain amount of potential, and offer to make a contract with them: in exchange for a single wish, it will be their duty, and their destiny, to fight witches, beings born from curses. The more potential they have, the more power they have as Magical Girls, and the more power they have when they make their wishes. When they accept the contract and make a wish, their Soul Gems are formed.” I showed mine. “This is a Soul Gem, although mine is a bit different, for reasons that I’ll explain in a minute. What the Incubators don’t tell anyone is what happens if their Soul Gems turn completely black, which usually happens when a Magical Girl feels an excess of negative emotions, usually despair: it shatters, and becomes a Grief Seed. And then from it, a witch hatches and begins to curse people.”

“Wait,” Camille gasped. “You’re saying that these Magical Girls become the very witches they’re fighting?! But why?!”

I sighed. “The moment when hope becomes despair gives off a lot of energy, or so they say, and apparently they use that energy to make some of the entropy go away. What you have to realize is that they don’t have emotions themselves— they view it as a mental disorder. They don’t realize what a terrible thing they’re doing, because to them, there is nothing wrong with what they’re doing; they’re just helping the universe sustain itself. They don’t see why we’re so upset over the loss over a handful when our population grows at such a fast rate. They don’t think that there’s anything wrong with sacrificing thousands of girls over the centuries. Supposedly they helped us evolve beyond primitive apes.”

“So, are you one of these Magical Girls, then?” Jade guessed.

“Yes, and no.” I replied slowly. “To explain, let me tell you about a girl named Sayaka Miki. Now she’s not really important up until she makes a contract with the Incubator Kyubey, wishing to heal the hands of a boy she has a crush on. She was the sort who wanted to save everyone, and thought herself to be a ‘Hero of Justice.’ But she quickly realized that the world isn’t black and white, and not everyone was as inclined to be nice to someone else. At this point, she fell into despair, and became the Mermaid Witch, Oktavia von Seckendorff, whose nature was falling in love. Eventually she was killed by Kyoko Sakura, a Magical Girl Sayaka had become acquainted with, killing Kyoko as well. And then some unknown amount of time later, she woke up as a human infant her mind intact. Five years later she was sent to High Hopes Dance Academy.”

Everyone was silent for a moment to process this information, and then finally, Slam spoke up. “So wait, you’re this witch thing that that Sayaka girl turned into?”

“I was.” I stressed. “Now I’m essentially a witch in human form, with a human mind and morals. Now, I told you that my Soul Gem is different: well, usually a Magical Girl’s Soul Gem is literally her soul, but since I didn’t make a contract with an Incubator, instead, making it with the Law of Cycles— a girl who made a wish to stop all witches from being born and essentially became a concept, a goddess, in the process— who assured me that my Soul Gem wouldn’t literally be my soul. And I trust her, because she was once friends with my human form, and she was always a terrible liar. And she pretty much never lied to anyone. Something I don’t see changing, even if she is a goddess now. She did give me my second chance, after all.”

There was a really, really, long silence. Then, finally, Angelica said “Thank you for telling us. What was it like, when you were a witch?”

I shook my head. “I don’t really remember, to be honest.” I confessed. “I remember that I used to be a witch, and kind of being Sayaka Miki a little bit, but I don’t remember it all that well. Probably because witches are by and large mindless monsters. Once a Magical Girl turns into a witch, there’s no going back. And in the process, she loses her human mind. In the case of Sayaka Miki, I tend to view her as my human self, because we’re a lot different, personality wise.”

“Well, then, Oktavia von Seckendorff, the Mermaid Witch whose nature is falling in love,” Breeze began formally, stepping forward. “Can we count on you to work with us to defeat Skyclone and prevent him from ruling the Wingdom?”

Dismissing my armor, I dipped a curtsy to them. “I swear that as long as I am the leader of the Sky Warriors, Skyclone will never rule the Wingdom. I swear upon Caliburn that the Wingdom will be safe as long as it remains in my hands.”

“I swear that as the leader of the Sky Dancers, as long as we wear the Golden Feathers of Flight,” Jade spoke for her fellow Sky Dancers. “You will always have allies in us.”

We shook hands, and with that, our pact to protect the Windom was sealed.

 

[RaisingHeartSetUp]

Mermaid Dancing Sky Warrior Witch
Chapter Three: The Harp Of The Will To Fly​

Oktavia

I wasn’t sure why Skyla-sensei wanted me to practice the waltz too, but I wasn’t doing half bad— and by that, I mean that I hadn’t fallen on anything yet. All in all, a good day. Slam wasn’t exactly thrilled about having to practice the waltz; he claimed that if he had to practice the dumb waltz much longer, he was going to “one, two, three all over someone’s face” right as Skyla-sensei walked into the room. It could have been worse; at least he got to dance Camille.

I was stuck dancing with Jade, who was taller than I was, and neither of us knew who would lead. And I stepped on her toes every five minutes, I swore. So really, Slam didn’t have anything to complain about. Yes, it was boring. But at least he was good at it. At least he was good at dancing in general, because that was something I had always struggled with. I thought he should be grateful that dancing at all came naturally to him.

“What was that, Slam?” She asked mildly. Busted.

“Just saying how much I dig the waltz, Dame Skyla.” Slam lied.

“Good. Then you won’t mind trying it again.” Skyla-sensei replied, hitting the play button on the stereo, beginning to count them off. Camille commented that doing the waltz was about as much fun as a closed shopping mall. Slam put a finger to his lips and then went over and turned on different music, beginning to rap.

This is going to end well. I thought sarcastically, deciding that discretion was the better part of valor with Skyla-sensei looking extremely irritated, and so elected to not say it out loud. Sure enough, when Slam and Camille started dancing to the beat, they earned themselves an extra two hours practicing the waltz— one for their stunt, and another for back talking.

I knew this wouldn’t end well.

However, suddenly, Skyla-sensei tensed, and seemed to be listening to something.

“Trouble, Skyla-sensei?” I guessed, fingering my Soul Gem’s ring form.

“Trouble, Oktavia.” She agreed. “I must call upon the Sky Dancers and the Sky Warrior.”

“The Sky Warrior is ready to draw her sword.” I announced as we made our way to the Music Box Room. Skyla-sensei smiled down at me, seeming pleased by my willingness to fight in defense of her kingdom. Although, given that I was a Sky Warrior, was it my kingdom as well? Maybe that was what Madoka-dono had meant when she told me to defend my kingdom well?

I wasn’t sure what else it could possibly mean.

I had a feeling that she definitely meant the Wingdom when she told me to defend my kingdom well, but why did she call it my kingdom? Was it because I was one of its defenders now? But the Sky Dancers were the Wingdom’s strongest and most traditional defenders, so why hadn’t she referred to it as their kingdom as well? However, I forced those thoughts to the back of my mind to ponder over later, because I could see the Music Box Room coming into view.

I had a job to do— Madoka-dono had charged me with defending the Wingdom, and so defend the Wingdom I would, until my last breath if need be.

Once inside the room, our queen (because she was our queen now, not our teacher) spoke the words that would let the Sky Dancers transform into the Dancers, and together they intoned “if it is to be, it’s up to me.” As for me, I willed my Soul Gem to turn into gem form, then brought it up to my chest and held it out in front of me.

“I’m small as an ant, big as a whale, I’ll approach like a breeze, but come as a gale. By some I get hit, but all have shown fear, I’ll dance to the music, though I can’t hear. Of names I have many, of names I have one, I’m slow as a snail, but from me you can’t run. Mermaid Warrior Witch— set up!”

A beam of midnight blue light shot into the sky, and my clothes disappeared, turned to petals of water, and were replaced with a black and white bare shouldered bare backed dress with detached puffy white sleeves, a pair of armored metal gloves, and a pair of knee high, low heeled armored metal boots. Completing the look was shining, silvery-white armor over the dress, and a one handed broadsword at my side. Finally, my midnight blue hair had been pulled into a braid.

Once my transformation was done, Skyla-sensei ushered us into the portal. Again, Camille had to make me a platform of clouds because I couldn’t fly. I would have to find some sort of flight spell because this was already getting old. I would have to ask Skyla-sensei about it later.

When we reached the Wingdom, we found all of its inhabitants sitting listlessly on the ground, as if they had lost their will to fly. Pathetic. They totally took their ability for granted.

“What has happened?” Skyla-sensei questioned of them. They answered with varying degrees of “it’s gone” and “they took it” and apparently the “it” was their will to fly. Idiots.
Seriously, I couldn’t fly, and I would kill to be able to fly.

And here they were, sitting on the ground without any motivation to pick themselves up, dust themselves off, and go after whoever took the harp I assumed was the key. Okay, yeah, their wings were useless, but there had to be some way to fly without their wings.

Didn’t they ever plan for contingencies? Or did having wings make them complacent?

And to the surprise of no one, it was Skyclone’s imps who had taken the harp.

And it got better: we had to go get the thing back without Skyla-sensei’s help. If she were captured, the Wingdom would fall. Which wasn’t going to happen because that went against my oath that the Wingdom would be safe as long as Caliburn was in my hands.

She did give us Whirl and Twirl but I wasn’t sure how much help they were really going to be. What help was a pair of dogs going to be, really? And alright, they were magical somehow, but what help were they really going to be?

We flew (and was flown in my case; really. Getting. Old) for what seemed like hours to where Skyclone’s hideout was, and to where he was holding the harp hostage. We found our way in by Slam moving a latch with his power, and then we came to a fork in the road.

This, as it turned out, posed quite a problem.

Slam and Camille wanted to go left, while Angelica and Jade wanted to go right. And none of them could agree on which way to go, so they split up, leaving Breeze and in the middle to try to break up the fight.

Needless to say, it didn’t work.

Slam was too annoyed about earlier to listen, and Camille stood by the feeling she had. And she might have been angry about earlier too.
It was harder to tell with the more reserved Modern Dance Aficionado.

And while I didn’t blame them for being bored with the waltz (Madoka only knew how many times I’d fallen when I tried to practice on my own, and stepped on my partner’s feet in class), it would have been better for them to just put up with it until they could goof off and dance their way once waltzing practice was done.

Figuring we had best follow them, Breeze and I exchanged annoyed sighs. He and Twirl followed Jade and Angelica, while Whirl and I followed Camille and Slam.

I had a feeling that the others all got split up somehow, and I wished I could do something to reunite them and make them act like the team they were supposed to be.

But there was nothing I could do; I was an outsider, even among the team I was supposed to be a part of. I was a Sky Warrior, a master of the blade, not a Sky Dancer. And I never would be one of them, no matter how hard I tried.

I idly wished I could be, but then decided that I would rather be what I am than change myself just so that someone else might like me.

From there, my mind drifted to my wish: I wish I could find someone who will love me for who and what I really am. I wanted to find someone who could love me even though I used to be a witch— still was a witch in some ways. But I didn’t want to force someone to love me. At the same time, though, would there be anyone would love me like that, knowing what I was and what I used to be, and knowing that I was a penniless orphan who had to work for everything?

“What are you thinking about, Oktavia?” Camille asked gently. “You look like you’re a million miles away right now. Is something wrong?”

I shook my head. “Just thinking about how my wish will be granted. Remember, I told you that I made a wish.” I reminded at her surprised look. “My Soul Gem just isn’t actually my soul. Although it might draw power from it. I don’t know. Remember, I told you when I first showed it to you that my Soul Gem was the crystallization of my wish.”

“Yeah, you did.” Slam remembered. “So what’d you wish for?”

I blushed. “I’m not telling you!” I protested. “You’ll think it’s stupid. Besides, it’s my wish!”

“Suit yourself.” Camille shrugged. Slam looked like he was going to press me for details, but probably decided he didn’t want to know that badly. We wandered through the tunnels for a while, and soon came to an area that looked familiar. Even Slam reluctantly admitted that we were lost— and that was an amazing thing in and of itself, given that he hated admitting he was wrong about anything. Especially something he had defended so vehemently.

Suddenly, I heard what sounded like a harp beginning to play and frowned. “Hey, do you guys hear a harp? Because I think I do. Could it be that harp that we need to retrieve?”

The Sky Dancers paused and listened for a moment, straining their ears to hear what I heard. “I think I hear it too.” Slam murmured. “Yeah, I think it’s that harp we’re supposed to get.”

Whirl cocked an ear, listening as well, and started to lead us down a passageway. As we followed her, I idly wondered who was playing the harp. Skyclone couldn’t play, and his imps certainly couldn’t. “Who do you guys think is playing?” I wondered. “I mean, Skyclone and his imps almost certainly can’t play the thing, not this well. Do you think they captured one of us? It’s the only reasonable explanation that’s even remotely plausible.”

Both of them paled at the thought, because, as I mentioned, it was the only reasonable explanation, and it made too much sense. Which one of us was it? Jade? Angelica? Breeze?

“Let’s hurry.” Slam decided, and they took off again, flying to go faster. In their hurry, they forgot to make me another floating cloud platform, so I was forced to run after them.

This was really getting old. Didn’t they remember that they had a flightless team member who needed to somehow be transported to wherever they were going? I swear, if they left me here and forgot about me again, I was definitely going to register a complaint with Skyla-sensei.

I ran as fast as I could, but given that I couldn’t fly, I didn’t get there until after Jade had already taken the harp from Skyclone. “Hey!” I snapped at them as I ran into the room. “Did you guys forget that I was with you?” They all shifted guiltily, and I glared. “Did you even remember me at all?! I may not be a Sky Dancer, but I’m still a part of this team, and I’m still totally committed to defending the Wingdom! Is there something the matter with me because I’m not a Dancer?”

Jade came up to me and put a hand on my shoulder. “We’re really sorry, Oktavia. Having wings it just didn’t occur to us. We’ll try harder. Right, guys?” She turned to regard the other Dancers. Camille, Angelica, and Breeze nodded, looking apologetic, but Slam just crossed his arms.

“I’m no one’s taxi.” He grumbled. “Can’t you just make your own wings so you don’t have to make us carry you? Or better yet, just get better at dancing so you can be a Sky Dancer?”

Scowling, I threw my Soul Gem at him, which hit him in the head. “Excuse me for being such a burden.” I said sarcastically, raising a hand to catch the returning egg-shaped gem. “I’ll be sure to do something that’s totally impossible just to make sure that I don’t inconvenience you, My Lord Slam-sama, the Great Hero of Hip Hop.”

“Why don’t we just get the harp back to the Wingdom?” Camille, ever the peacemaker, suggested. “We can sort this all out when we get back.”

So we took off, Camille creating the customary platform for me, and Slam decided to leave a little ‘going away’ present for Skyclone— a kick in the one place on male should ever be kicked. We flew for a while, then landed in a clearing near where we left Skyla-sensei.

But then, just as we landed, a group of Horrorcanes showed up.

I immediately stepped into a defensive stance and drew Caliburn, ready to fight. But the Sky Dancers just took off with the harp!
What was I supposed to do now?

 

[RaisingHeartSetUp]

Mermaid Dancing Sky Warrior Witch
Chapter Four: Apologies And Spirit Kings​

Oktavia

I held Caliburn in front of me, and then leapt into action, becoming a blue-and-silver blur, my sword flashing in the sunlight. Thanks to being a master swordswoman in this form, I was able to hit them nine times out of ten. And usually in a fatal or debilitating spot. Most of them went after the Dancers, but a decent few stayed to harry me. Apparently, even though I had a sword and could kill them nine times out of ten, the Dancers were still the bigger threat because they were the Sky Dancers. That stung, a lot.

Seriously. What did a girl have to do to get a little respect?

The Horrorcanes just kept coming, wave after wave of them, even if most of them went after the Dancers. Eventually my arms began to ache under the strain. Just because I knew how to the sword didn’t mean that I had the necessary muscle for prolonged use.

If I actually managed to survive this, I was going to have to work long and hard on my sword skills. I couldn’t afford to be caught unaware again. Not when Skyla-sensei’s life could very well be on the line. If I let these stupid things get to her, I had as good as broken my oath. Skyclone didn’t care about the Wingdom or its inhabitants, only about the power that the Sky Swirl Stone could give him, which was probably why he had been passed over as king in favor of Skylar. I didn’t exactly know much about ruling, but I did know that the best rulers, ones like Skylar and Skyla-sensei, actually cared about the people they were ruling.

A Horrorcane charged me. I barely managed to swing Caliburn in time to kill it. I managed to kill two more, but one snuck up behind me. I whirled around to face it, but it was too late. It was too close, and I was too tired. Just when I thought it was over, I heard

“Power of the wind rain and sky is mine!” Followed by Breeze’s power to control the elements.

The Native American Traditionalist descended, followed by a furious Skyla-sensei. Grimacing, I returned Caliburn to its sheath and curtsyed. “Queen Skyla. I apologize for not rejoining you. I had . . . other matters . . . to attend to. Punish me as you see fit.”

I was sure she was mad because I wasn’t there to protect her. And she was right to be, considering I had sworn to protect the Wingdom— and by proxy, her as its rightful ruler in the absence of King Skylar or another rightful heir— with my dying breath if need be. And I hadn’t been there to keep my oath.

To my surprise, Skyla-sensei’s face softened. “It is not you that I am angry at, Oktavia. I realize that fighting Horrorcanes must have been tiring indeed. It seems that more practice is needed for you to grow into your role as the leader of the Sky Warriors. However, that can wait until later. Breeze, I believe you have something to say to your teammate?”

Breeze took a step forward, and actually bowed, so low that his head was nearly parallel with his legs. “Moushiwake arimasen deshita.” I had to stop myself from gaping; Breeze had just given me something like the most formal apology in the Japanese language (despite Sayaka Miki being Japanese, I didn't know much of the language because I hadn't gotten to learn much of it in this life). I wasn’t sure if that was actually the most formal, but it was formal enough that it was only used in the most extreme cases. It meant something like I have no excuse or I had no excuse, and I had never actually heard anyone give it. But why was Breeze, a member of the Sky Dancers, giving that apology to me, the leader of the Sky Warriors?

I frowned. “Why are you giving me that apology? I mean, yeah, I’m pretty miffed at you for leaving me— for various members of the Dancers leaving me twice, in one day, but you don’t need to give me that really formal apology.”

“But I do, Oktavia.” Breeze replied firmly. “We left you, even though you’re a member of our team. And what would have happened if you hadn’t held off these Horrorcanes while we waited for reinforcements and tried to protect the harp? They would have come after us instead. And I’m not sure we could have held them all off.” He waved a hand at the corpses of the Horrorcanes that surrounded us, which were starting to return to the wind they were created from. “Just look at how many you’ve taken down. None of us could have done that. About all we can do is make them bump into eachother and kill themselves. But you can kill them yourself. You don’t need us. Not by a long shot.”

I smiled. “That’s true. Still, I should thank you for showing up when you did. If you hadn’t shown up to take that thing down, I would have been a goner.”

The Native American boy looked ashamed of himself. “Only because Queen Skyla chewed me out. I don’t think any of us would have even thought about you if she hadn’t gotten mad at us for leaving you. You’re scary when you’re mad.” He added in the queen’s direction.

Skyla-sensei merely smiled at him, looking decidedly amused. “It is, you will find, a queen’s duty to be scary when she is protecting her subjects.”

“Thank you for yelling at them, then.” I told her. “Like I told Breeze, if you two hadn’t shown up when you did, I would have been a goner for sure.”

Breeze winced. “You shouldn’t have had to fight them on your own. I’m sorry.”

“Well, I accept your apology.” I told him. “But if the others try to apologize, I’m not accepting theirs. Not when they left me and didn’t even come back for me. And I’m still mad at Slam for that little comment of his. That was out of line.”

My queen and teacher’s eyes narrowed. “And what, precisely, did Slam say?”

I scowled. “I chewed them out for forgetting about me— in enemy territory— and Camille promised they’d do better. Slam just said that he’s no one’s taxi, and that I should just make my own wings, or better yet, learn to dance so I can be a Sky Dancer.”

“I will be sure to have a . . . talk . . . with our resident break dancer.” Skyla-sensei decided. “In the meantime, come. The celebration will begin any moment. Breeze, assist me.”

“Yes, Queen Skyla.”

Skyla-sensei personally carried me back to where the celebration was with a bit of help from Breeze’s wind powers, after I’d dismissed my armor, of course; no need to make it harder on her than it already was.

The Skyridians paid me no mind— I was a Sky Warrior, not a Sky Dancer. There was no reason to pay any attention me, because I didn’t dance. The harp started to play, people started to fly in the air, and Slam asked Jade to dance. Camille commented that she thought she would never come to like the sound of the harp so much.

Skyla-sensei merely smiled. “And I’m pleased to see that Slam finally got in step with the waltz.” She added. But no sooner had she said it than the music changed to a bouncier tune, and Slam started break dancing again to the surprise of exactly no one.

I snorted. “Skyla-sensei, I think you tempted the gods of irony.”

My teacher and queen chuckled in reply. “So I did indeed.” She agreed. “It seems that I have spoken in haste, and can now repent at leisure.”

Not long after that, we left, and when we got back to the Music Box Room, Skyla-sensei thoroughly chewed the other Dancers out— especially Slam for his comment. She reminded him that everyone had different strengths, and that just because I couldn’t dance or fly didn’t mean that I wasn’t a valuable team member. Skyla-sensei then added that I could have been killed had it not been for Breeze.

Jade, Camille, and Angelica, and even Breeze-kun, looked ashamed of themselves.

“We’re so sorry, Oktavia.” Angelica apologized, but I wasn’t having any of it.

“Apology not accepted.” I snapped, to the surprise of everyone. “You left me alone, twice, and both times I could have been captured or killed. I almost was killed because you couldn’t be bothered to make sure I was with you. You left me to certain death by Horrorcane, because you forgot that I couldn’t fly, after I just reminded you about it! I’m not going to accept a generic apology, and I won’t accept an apology at all until you can tell me what you did wrong here.”

With Skyla-sensei’s permission, I then turned and stormed out of the room, going back to my dorm. I lived all the way up on floor nineteen, in room one twenty three. It was, to say the least, a long trek up all the stairs, since students in Class Five weren’t allowed to use the elevator. When I finally made it up all the stairs to my dorm, I barely managed to change into my pajamas, and then fall into bed and fall asleep.

Yes, I was that tired. Could you blame me, after the day that I had?

I had the most unusual dream. First I saw the scene that Skyla-sensei had described to us: the one where King Skylar trapped Skyclone in a Death Spin and trapped him in the bloated body he was in today. Then the scene melted away to reveal what seemed to be some sort of training ground in the sky and King Skylar himself was standing in front of me.

What was going on here?

“Greetings, Oktavia von Seckendorff, the Mermaid Witch whose nature is to fall in love.” He greeted, and it was at that point that I realized that this wasn’t a dream and he was actually addressing me directly. But how was that possible? He died years ago.

Realizing I was somehow in my Sky Warrior attire, I curtsyed. “Greetings, King Skylar, Savior and Defender of the Wingdom, Lover of Skyla.”

“Please, there is no need for you to humble yourself before me. I have come before you as a teacher, not a king.” He announced.

I frowned. “But what you could possibly have to teach me? I need to know how to fight, not how to dance.” I blushed, realizing how that must have sounded. “Sorry, that was rude.”

“At ease. You need not apologize. Although my people are primarily dancers, my father was a firm believer in the idea that someone, especially a Prince who would be King, should always be prepared for the worst, and so made me learn to fight as well as dance.” The king who I assumed would be my teacher as well explained. “Because of that I know how to use a sword, and I will teach you to use yours to the fullest extent. Show me how you have used it so far.”

I drew Caliburn and settled into a defensive stance, deciding to let him come to me. The King materialized his own sword and came at me. Unfortunately, he soon had me on the defensive, calling out advice as he pressed me backwards.

It wasn’t long before he had a sword at my neck, demanding I concede. Naturally, I conceded.

He gave me five minutes to rest, and then came at me again. While I held my own for a little bit longer this time, the result was still the same. After the fifth time, he decided to do something a little different. “Now,” The King began. “This time I would like to do something a bit differently. We will spar for five minutes, and if you can hold your own for that long, I will teach you something new. For every five minutes you last, I will teach you one new technique with your sword. En Garde!” He came at me again. I barely managed to last against him at all. When he finally called time, I had to bite my lip against the urge to relax and drop to the ground in sheer exhaustion. Somehow, I just had a feeling that it would only get me some kind of punishment.

Let it be over, let it be over, let it be over, I chanted mentally. Please let it be over. I don’t know how much more of this I can take.

Thankfully, Skylar-sama called a halt to our training, and then I sagged in relief. “Thank Madoka.” I mumbled. “Um, am I going to be able to get any sleep with you training me in my dreams like this? Because training is all well and good and all but I need sleep too.”

The King who was now my teacher chuckled. “Worry not, time moves faster in your dreamscape than in real life. So, while we have been training for a significant amount of time in your dreams, it has likely only been a few minutes.”

“Well, thank you for training me, Skylar-sama.” I said gratefully. “The fact that you can train me, and you’re willing to train me, should be a big help defending Skyla-sensei.”

“Sensei.” He corrected. “I would like for you to refer to me as Skylar-sensei.” He added at my confused look. “While I am training you, you will refer to me by the title of sensei and you will treat me with the same respect you would give to any other teacher who truly teaches you.”

I bowed. “Yes, sensei.” I agreed. “What will I be learning from you?”

“Mostly swordplay.” He replied. “Swordplay is your main strength and I, alas, was never trained in magic, and so cannot teach you to use your spellsinging abilities. However, if you can, I would like for you to start using them in our spars. The Horrorcanes do not care about a fair fight, and so I will train you to fight battles. You were lucky, earlier. You cannot always rely on that luck.”

I grimaced. “Don’t I know it.” I sighed. “That was way too close. If Breeze-kun hadn’t come I’d’ve been a goner for sure. I know that I probably won’t be that lucky next time.”

“Which is why you need to train your skills and hone them to a fine point so that this does not happen again.” My new teacher finished. “When you wake up, please tell Skyla that I am alive, and that I am merely trapped in spirit form.”

“How is it that you can contact me in my dreams, someone you don’t even know, but you can’t contact your own wife?” I wanted to know. “That seems kind of messed up.”

Skylar-sensei sighed. “It comes down to the fact that you were not born in the Wingdom. The Death Spin has effectively cut me off from the Wingdom, but you are not truly part of it.”

“I see. I’ll be sure to tell her. Hail and well met, Skylar, King and Defender of the Wingdom, Lover of Skyla.” I intoned as he began to fade away.

“Hail and well met, Oktavia von Seckendorff, Princess and Warrior of the Wingdom, Champion of the Blade, Leader of the Sky Warriors.” My new teacher said in return.

And with that, the dreamscape turned completely black, and I fell asleep, wondering what he meant when he called me Princess and Warrior of the Wingdom.

It was a mystery I was going to figure out. Come hell or high water.